“Despicable rabble,” however, pretty much summed up George Washington’s opinion of the troops when he arrived in Cambridge in July. In a letter to his brother John, the new commander in chief grumbled, “I found a mixed multitude of People here, under very little discipline, order, or Government.”

“Despicable rabble,” however, pretty much summed up George Washington’s opinion of the troops when he arrived in Cambridge in July. In a letter to his brother John, the new commander in chief grumbled, “I found a mixed multitude of People here, under very little discipline, order, or Government.”

— Sarah Vowell